Locus Map 4, discussion (beta)

[Menion]

@blackpanter
thanks for testing!
1,2) bottom cuts are made as an intent to notify user, there is more content that may be revealed
3) texts for LM4 are not yet translated. This one will be fixed later.

@Raddino
hmm as you wrote, the link under the first image points to an invalid Url ...

@Andrew Heard
nice test, thanks!

So general problem > visibility and tapping on the zoom buttons.
I've just added a small "protective area" around these two buttons to prevent accidental clicks on the map in case tapping right next to it. More challenging is visibility. Compare to LM3, it highly depends on the background map. So I first suggest changing your map 

Disabling POIs > hmm you mean keeping them visible, but just ignore tapping right? Nothing like this is currently possible. Anyway handling a map in gloves is a problem of course. Maybe a control of the zoom with hardware volume buttons may help here?

Rescaling of most of the UI elements does not work (yet).

[Andrew Heard]

I've just added a small "protective area" around these two buttons to prevent accidental clicks on the map in case tapping right next to it.

nice improvement, will look forward to testing; but do you see the issue with map rotation and active route (track) generally being perfectly aligned with the "-" zoom button? The zoom buttons could be spaced a little further apart & not right in the horizonal-middle of screen.

Compare to LM3, it highly depends on the background map. So I first suggest changing your map 

understood; with LM3 the map color isn't an issue but now the buttons "blend" in when the map is same color as the buttons. It's just an observation, not a suggestion to change.

Disabling POIs > hmm you mean keeping them visible, but just ignore tapping right? Nothing like this is currently possible. Anyway handling a map in gloves is a problem of course. Maybe a control of the zoom with hardware volume buttons may help here?

all good suggestions thanks - either hiding POI or ignoring taps - either option would do the trick. While riding, ignoring all single tap "zones" except buttons could be very helpful/ less prone to errors. With night/ gloves I can't "feel" or see the power button (I have to turn on my helmet-mounted light), so volume buttons would have same problem, plus the buttons are concealed in the phone cradle anyway.

Rescaling of most of the UI elements does not work (yet).

OK - patience ;-)

[Menion]

I never considered the position of the zoom buttons as a problem. Buttons are connected to the big centering button, not directly to the center of the screen. So it depends on the screen resolution. But yes, usually they are close to the middle.

The color of the buttons is an interesting topic. A single color probably can't be always "perfect". I'll maybe try to play a little bit with shadows > thanks for the tip.

Controlling is a problem with gloves ... always. Hmm, what you need is close to the existing "Screen lock" function, except this completely disable all taps. Hmm ...

[slarti76]

I never considered the position of the zoom buttons as a problem. Buttons are connected to the big centering button, not directly to the center of the screen. So it depends on the screen resolution. But yes, usually they are close to the middle.

The color of the buttons is an interesting topic. A single color probably can't be always "perfect". I'll maybe try to play a little bit with shadows > thanks for the tip.

Controlling is a problem with gloves ... always. Hmm, what you need is close to the existing "Screen lock" function, except this completely disable all taps. Hmm ...

Doesn't everyone use the volume buttons with gloves?
That said, I also sometimes thought it would be great to have a "limited screen lock", where zooming and panning is possible, but no other interaction (except disabling the screen lock, obviously). During a tour, I often take out the phone to look at the map, and then I want to see what's ahead, but can't pan in Screen lock mode.
Dreaming on about this, why not hide all buttons and stuff in screen lock? They are useless and give the wrong impression they are active. Then screen lock would be just the map over the full display, allowing zooming and panning, and of course the slide from the left to deactivate it. Whatcha think?

[freischneider]

I find all keys difficult with gloves on. When hiking, I use the volume buttons to zoom. When cycling I use external Bluetooth buttons.
I could envision having more voice control support in the future. Has only now been expanded by google. You can control tasks in apps via assistant.

[Diddi]

I'm getting this error frequently when updating a list of geocaches

[balloni55]

Hello menion
is it possible to also add a "guide on button" to the selection list of the 3 geocache quick selection options?

[karlchick]

I just tried out the Dark Mode feature of LM4 as this is the main feature of interest for me, as LM3 is useless for night time walking.

It is a big improvement having dark menus etc. But there are still a couple of annoying things that make it less useful for night use:
    1 - The zoom control and centre on location buttons are very bright white (see first attachment)
            - would be good to have these darker in dark mode, or customisable in the expert settings perhaps...
            - I like to always have this on display, in the LM3 they were dark and part of the lower button bar (see third attachement).
    2 - When you zoom out the background colour of the undrawn map area is very bright (see second attachment)

As is currently stands LM4 is not providing me with a usable dark mode.
If fixable, this would be a feature that might convince me to move to LM4 subscription model later, otherwise I am very happy with LM3 (I don't need the online/cloud capabilities, just static off-line maps with route planning...)

[Andrew Heard]

I could envision having more voice control support in the future.

@freischneider - when I'm cycling & phone is mounted on the bike, the internal microphone/ amplifier is completely saturated/ overloaded by the low frequency of road vibration, so voice control is impossible. Wind & other traffic noise would also be confusing factors to consider. I guess a Bluetooth microphone is the only way to overcome these issues.

it would be great to have a "limited screen lock", where zooming and panning is possible, but no other interaction (except disabling the screen lock, obviously). During a tour, I often take out the phone to look at the map, and then I want to see what's ahead, but can't pan in Screen lock mode.
Dreaming on about this, why not hide all buttons and stuff in screen lock? They are useless and give the wrong impression they are active.... Whatcha think?

@slarti76 - that sounds exactly what I'm looking for!!

    1 - The zoom control and centre on location buttons are very bright white

@karlchick - similar to my LM3/LM4 experience/ thoughts although for a different reason

[Erelen]

0) current beta will expire in 4 days :)

1) in Locus dark mode, there is small light gap in left side of panels (screenshot only for bottom panel, but top panel is affected too). In Locus light mode there is no gap.

2) I use pannels auto-hide in 5 seconds. So, every Locus start I see unnesesary flickering: I see panles after start, and in 5 seconds they hides. Maybe, don't show pannels on start, if autohide enabled - it's better UX? Or another way: restore last panels state (I know several users, who set autohide time to unreal big value, and show/hide panles manually by doubletap).

[freischneider]

I could envision having more voice control support in the future.

@freischneider - when I'm cycling & phone is mounted on the bike, the internal microphone/ amplifier is completely saturated/ overloaded by the low frequency of road vibration, so voice control is impossible. Wind & other traffic noise would also be confusing factors to consider. I guess a Bluetooth microphone is the only way to overcome these issues.

It works wonderfully. I'm already testing it with the detour "Tasker, Autovoice". Activate it with a button.
But that shouldn't be an issue here now. When LM4 is running you can talk about it.

[Menion]

@slarti76
yes, that sounds like a nice screen lock improvement 

@Diddi
this definitely is not an error from Locus Map, but more probably from Geocaching4Locus. So, unfortunately, it has to be reported to its developer.

@balloni55
"Guide on" is available directly under the "Navigation" icon which is always visible, so it does not sound to me like an improvement.

@karlchick
nice feedback, thanks!
1. buttons, yes they are currently unaffected by the Dark mode settings. Will look at it.
2. this color is already changed by the "Night mode" color for the map so "Dark mode" for the app should behave like this as well. Improved.

And stay with LM3, it won't be a problem .

@Erelen
0) ah damn, I hoped we will have already a final version out ... thanks
1) ah yes, I always forget to do something with it. Fixed.
2) should be already configurable by config.cfg parameter "gui_main_screen_visible_panels_at_start"

[baegas]

locus map pro supports full screen monitor on Samsung DeX
When I ran the locus map4 beta 2 version on DeX yesterday, it seems that it cannot support full screen.
I would like to support this part as well

[balloni55]

"Guide on" is available directly under the "Navigation" icon

i know

"Navigation" icon which is always visible

not for me, if i define 3 geocache quick selection button, then the navigation button moves to the selection menu and 3 clicks are necessary to start guide on.
If guide on would be available in the quick selection, it would be only one click.
When i have opened a cache mostly the next step is "guide on"

[slarti76]

locus map pro supports full screen monitor on Samsung DeX
When I ran the locus map4 beta 2 version on DeX yesterday, it seems that it cannot support full screen.
I would like to support this part as well

Weird, for me (Galaxy Tab S5e), LMP doesn't go to fullscreen or even resize in DeX. Didn't try LM4 yet...